Hello Erika,
So nice to see you here. Happy New Year!
Oh, yes, a complicated cosmos, which is why starting with a single leaf simplified the challenge for me. As I grow older, I realize the 'big things' are beyond my reach and comprehension. So I start with what seems 'real', what I seem to be able to affect. But then, of course, when we take action, intending to do good, we've no way of knowing the full consequences of that action. I know you agree with this. Nothing is simple, but we can't throw up our hands and become passive. So we humble move forward. Which, again, is why a single leaf was such a great start for me.
I'm glad you remember my leaf. Funny, the things that inspire us, if we--as you suggest--slow down and are not so "hasty". Of course, with the immediate pressure of life beyond me (I don't have to earn a living or raise family), I can indulge in a more casual lifestyle. Not so easy if one is obliged to produce.
Then, again, I have other challenges--related to circumstance--and I can choose to be distracted by these or to relax and go with the flow of life. I try to do the later. Again, seasons are an excellent reflection for encouraging this perspective.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. A New Year's gift to read your words.
Love,
AG
If there would be a personal God, this entity would probably wonder. We humans could have the most wonderful times on this planet in coexistence with all others. Earth has all the living beings need to have. We could relax way more than we do. Still, we seem to be such an angst creature. ...
I would like to contradict a little your well known expression "to throw up hands and become passive", though I of course know, how you mean it.:) I think we are the least passive species ever. There is no laziness involved in humans. Even if they don't move they are busy. I don't know a single passive human. Do you? ;-))
P.S. I sent you my happy new years wish on discord,
bye my friend, it was a pleasure reading this post.
I was listening to a YouTube video last night, and one of the speakers said that humans are the only creatures who blush. I don't know if that's true, but he was saying what you are suggesting: we have angst. We worry and reflect. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just 'chill'?
Do I know a single passive human? No...even when they are apparently passive, they reflect and worry. But I do know submissive people. People who aren't proactive, who follow the drift. Whatever wind blows their way, it takes them along. This is a kind of passivity, a lack of resistance. I don't think you and I ever suffer from that. While we are not confrontational (I'm not at all), still, I am not carried away by anyone else's agenda--not when something is important. Of course, so much is not important. I go with the flow, in that case.
Thank you for your kind words about my blog. I have two more in mind, though these I imagine will be less fun, less artistic. Topics I would like to discuss, though perhaps no one wants to read about them :))
Happy New Year, dear Erika, although already I am growing accustomed to 2020.
Affection and hugs from wintry New York,
AG